What are the key considerations when choosing a cloud service provider?

As more and more IT systems are externalized, making sure that you pick the right cloud providers has become critical to long-term success.

Nevertheless, the accessible market is huge, with a heap of providers offering a significantly larger number of services; from market leaders like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft, and Google to smaller niche players offering tailored services.

So how do you choose the cloud provider that caters to your business needs from such a large pool? The right approach would be a well-defined selection and acquirement process properly weighted toward your unique set of requirements.

We’ve refined the key elements into a complete rundown of 5 consideration areas, should you choose to step in the cloud game:

Cloud Provider that meets Industry Standards:

The cloud providers which provide recognized standards and quality frameworks gives sight to the best practices and standards of the industry but the standards cannot make you determine to choose the cloud provider but it will help in making your decision.

Technologies used by Cloud Players:

You must make sure that the cloud provider’s technologies are aligning with the current environment and supports your cloud objectives.

The Cloud provider’s architecture, standards, and services should suit your workload and preferences and the re-coding or customization should be minimum to make it fit for your workloads.

Governance of your Data:

There are many data classification schemes in place that defines types of data according to sensitivity or policies on data residency and must be aware of data privacy rules.

If you have specific requirements and obligations, you should look for providers that give you tailor-made choices and control over your data including the authority to control where it is stored, processed and managed.

Cloud Performance and Reliability:

You must check the performance of the service provider against their SLAs for the last 6-12 months. Some cloud service providers make this information public, but others should provide it if inquired.

We should always be prepared for the downtimes as it is inevitable and be it any cloud provider, you will experience it at some point in your cloud journey.

Assess how financially healthy and sound your cloud provider is:

Evaluating the technical as well as the operational abilities of a potential provider is clearly important, but you must slice out your time to consider the financial health and profile of your shortlisted cloud providers.

Which is the most competitive or most compatible cloud service would remain an irrelevant factor if the provider doesn’t have a sound business. Ensure that your primary cloud provider(s) is a good fit in the long run.

Cloud Evangelists are CMI's in house ambassadors for the entire Cloud ecosystem. They are responsible for propagating the doctrine of cloud computing and help community members make informed decisions.